Three magnetic materials are listed below
(A) paramagnetics (B) diamagnetics (C) ferromagnetics
Choose the correct order of the materials in increasing order of magnetic susceptibility.
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → (B), (A), (C)
The magnetic susceptibility \( \chi \) tells how strongly a material is magnetised by an applied field, and its sign tells whether the magnetisation is along or against the field.
(B) diamagnetics: \( \chi \) is small and negative (\( -1 \le \chi \lt 0 \)).
(A) paramagnetics: \( \chi \) is small and positive.
(C) ferromagnetics: \( \chi \) is very large and positive (\( \chi \gg 1 \)).
So in increasing order: diamagnetics \( \lt \) paramagnetics \( \lt \) ferromagnetics, that is (B), (A), (C).
NCERT (2026-27):
Magnetic Properties of Materials – “… In terms of the susceptibility χ, a material is diamagnetic if χ is negative, para- if χ is positive and small, and ferro- if χ is large and positive.”